1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a game apparatus that causes a game to progress by causing a player character to conduct a virtual battle with an enemy character, a game program and a game progress method.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the past, action games or fighting games in which a game progresses such that a player character operatable by a player conducts a virtual battle with an enemy character have been enjoyed. In the action game or the fighting game, for example, a typical attack having a weapon or a bare hand is combined with a special attack that has offensive power more powerful than a typical attack or generates some sort of certain special effect in order to cause a virtual battle to strategically progress. In addition, in order to provide an action game that is rich in strategic feature, a game program in which when the enemy character receives an attack by the player character, it is determined whether or not a hit point of the enemy character is within a predetermined range, and when the hit point is within the predetermined range, the hit point of the enemy character becomes zero (0) regardless of the magnitude of damage has been disclosed (see JP 2007-54171 A).
Meanwhile, in recent years, action role playing games (RPGs) in which factors of an action game are incorporated into an RPG have been enjoyed by many players. In the action RPG, similarly to a typical action game, the player character conducts a virtual battle with the enemy character while moving the position of the player character in the virtual world by operating the player character or using a hitting attack by a weapon such as a sword or an ax or a bare hand, a magic attack having an effect of flame or thunder, or the like. Here, when the player character wins the virtual battle with the enemy character, the player character acquires an experience value or an item, and the player character grows based on the acquired experience value.
In the action RPG as described above, when a battle with a formidable enemy such as a boss character having a overwhelmingly higher status in offensive power, defensive power, or a hit point than the player character is conducted, it is difficult to defeat the enemy character unless an attack is made many times. For this reason, when it is desired to conduct a battle with a strong enemy character, it is necessary to conduct a battle with weak enemy characters many times and improve a level of a player character in order to defeat the formidable enemy such as the boss character. For this reason, since a so-called “level-up” needs to be obtained by repeatedly conducting battles with enemy characters weaker than the formidable enemy, the progress of a game may become monotonous, and fun may be reduced. In addition, when a battle is conducted without increasing a level, a battle is likely to be conducted by simply striking an attack button repeatedly, leading to a monotonous battle.
For example, in a game program discussed in JP 2007-54171 A, a battle with an enemy character can be strategically conducted such that a battle with an enemy character is conducted to cause a hit point of an enemy character to fall within a predetermined hit point range, and then an attack is made, so that the hit point of the enemy character becomes zero (0). However, in order to cause the hit point of the enemy character to fall within the predetermined range, a battle needs to be conducted in a state in which the player character is close in strength to the enemy character to some extent. Moreover, when there is a big difference in strength between the player character and the enemy character, it is very difficult to reduce the hit point of the enemy character to the predetermined range. For this reason, in the game program discussed in JP 2007-54171 A, the player character needs to repeatedly conduct a battle with relatively weak enemy characters and repeatedly increase a level.